I remained standing near the door.
“Who else did you pay?”
Martin leaned back.
His confidence had returned just enough to make me cautious.
“You want the whole story?”
“Yes.”
“Then sit.”
I didn't.
“Talk.”
He gave a tired smile.
“You always were impatient.”
“And you always thought you were smarter than everyone else.”
His smile disappeared.
“The first person I paid was Emily.”
“I know.”
“The second wasn't about Emily.”
“Who?”
He looked toward the conference room window.
“Someone inside your company.”
My stomach tightened.
“Who?”
“You'll find out.”
I took one step toward him.
“Say the name.”
“I won't.”
“Then you're done.”
I reached for the door.
“Daniel.”
I stopped.
“There was a reason I couldn't take your company directly.”
I turned.
“You needed me to lose control of it.”
“Yes.”
“Through the divorce.”
“Yes.”
“But that wasn't enough.”
“No.”
“What else?”
Martin looked at me.
“I needed someone you trusted.”
I stared at him.
A dozen names passed through my mind.
Ethan.
Our head of operations.
Senior accountants.
Project managers.
People who had worked beside me for years.
Then Martin said:
“Someone who could make you doubt your own records.”
I felt cold.
He had never needed to steal the company outright.
He only needed to make me look incompetent.
If the financial records showed unexplained debts, unauthorized payments, and missing revenue, lenders could become nervous.
Investors could become cautious.
Clients could leave.
A healthy company could be made to look sick.
And then, during a divorce, that appearance could become leverage.
“You wanted me to look unstable.”
“Yes.”
“You wanted the company to look unstable.”
“Yes.”
“And you needed someone inside.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
He shook his head.
“You'll have to discover that yourself.”
I left.
My attorney was waiting outside.
“What happened?”
“He says there's another person.”
“Did he name them?”
“No.”
“Did he give you anything?”
“Not yet.”
My attorney studied my face.
“Do you have a suspicion?”
“I have several.”
“Don't confront anyone.”
“I know.”
We returned to the main office.
Ethan was waiting.
“You look like you've seen a ghost.”
“Martin says there's someone inside the company.”
Ethan's expression changed.
“We already knew that.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“This is different.”
I told him what Martin had said.
Ethan was silent.
“Who do you trust?” he asked.
I looked around the office.
“That is the problem.”
He nodded.
“We need to isolate every access point.”
“Already doing it.”
“Then expand it.”
“How far?”
“Everyone.”
Ethan looked uncomfortable.
“Even me?”
I met his eyes.
“Especially you.”
He nodded.
“Good.”
I appreciated the answer.
Because if Ethan had been offended, I would have worried.
Instead, he pulled a chair closer.
“Start with the oldest access logs.”
We spent six hours comparing records.
The suspicious activity began three years earlier.
The same period when Martin's unauthorized payments increased.
But the access logs showed something strange.
The person wasn't always using their own credentials.
They were using dormant accounts.
Accounts belonging to former employees.
That meant whoever had been accessing the information understood our systems well enough to know which profiles had not been properly disabled.
“That isn't random,” Ethan said.
“No.”
“They know the architecture.”
“Yes.”
“Someone trained.”
“Or someone who has been here a long time.”
We pulled employment records.
Seven people had been with the company for more than ten years.
Four had access to sensitive systems.
Two were department heads.
One was Ethan.
I looked at him.
“Don't take it personally.”
“I don't.”
“Good.”
He nodded.
“I'd investigate me too.”
That was exactly why I trusted him.
At six that evening, Sophie came into the office carrying a sandwich.
“You forgot lunch.”
I smiled.
“Did you bring that for me?”
“No.”
She sat down.
“I brought it for me.”
I laughed.
“You're learning.”
She smiled.
Then she noticed the tension in the room.
“What happened?”
I hesitated.
“There may be someone inside the company helping Grandpa.”
Her expression fell.
“Another person?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know who?”
“No.”
She looked at Ethan.
“Do you trust him?”
Ethan raised an eyebrow.
Sophie looked embarrassed.
“What?”
“You asked me yesterday whether money makes someone good.”
She nodded.
“I did.”
“And now you're asking whether Ethan is good.”
She shrugged.
“I'm trying to understand.”
Ethan smiled.
“That's fair.”
He stood.
“I'll let you two talk.”
After he left, Sophie looked at me.
“Do you trust him?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“I don't.”
She looked surprised.
“Then why trust him?”
“Trust isn't certainty.”
She thought about that.
“Then what is it?”
“It's choosing to give someone responsibility while knowing they can still disappoint you.”
She nodded slowly.
“That sounds scary.”
“It is.”
She looked at the sandwich.
“Are you scared?”
“Yes.”
She looked up.
“Of losing the company?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
I answered honestly.
“Of finding out that people I love aren't who I thought they were.”
She nodded.
“I understand.”
That night, Claire called.
“I found something.”
I sat down.
“What?”
“My father's old phone.”
“Where?”
“In a storage box.”
“Does it work?”
“Yes.”
“Give it to your attorney.”
“I already did.”
“What did you find?”
“Messages.”
“From who?”
“Ryan.”
My attention sharpened.
“What did they say?”
Claire hesitated.
“He was reporting to Dad.”
“What about?”
“You.”
“What about me?”
“Your schedule.”
My jaw tightened.
“My schedule?”
“When you left work. When you traveled. Which clients you met.”
I looked toward the window.
“Anything else?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“Your daughter.”
My stomach dropped.
“What about her?”
“Where she went to school. Her activities. Her friends.”
I stood.
“Claire.”
“I know.”
“No.”
My voice hardened.
“Who else knew?”
“I don't know.”
“Find out.”
“I will.”
I ended the call.
The next morning, we brought in an outside cybersecurity team.
They examined the systems without telling employees what they were looking for.
By noon, they found something.
A remote access program had been installed on one of the office computers.
It had been there for eighteen months.
“What machine?”
“The executive assistant's computer.”
“Who uses it?”
“Three people.”
“Names.”
Ethan gave me the list.
One name stood out.
Linda.
Martin's wife.
I stared at it.
“No.”
Ethan looked at me.
“You think she's involved?”
“I don't know.”
“But she knew about the office.”
“She also gave us the key.”
“Which could mean she's cooperating.”
“Or covering herself.”
We brought Linda in.
She sat across from me.
Her hands shook.
“Daniel.”
“Tell me about the remote access software.”
She went pale.
“I don't know anything about it.”
“Your computer had it.”
“I didn't install it.”
“Who did?”
“I don't know.”
“Did Martin ever use your computer?”
“Yes.”
“How often?”
“I don't remember.”
“Try.”
She closed her eyes.
“Sometimes.”
“Did he ever ask you to leave the room?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Usually when you were out of town.”
My heart sank.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I was afraid.”
“Everyone is afraid.”
“I know.”
I pushed a printed message toward her.
“Did you send this?”
She looked at it.
“No.”
“It came from your account.”
“I didn't send it.”
“Then who did?”
“I don't know.”
She started crying.
“I swear.”
I believed her.
But belief wasn't evidence.
“Where was Martin when this was sent?”
“I don't know.”
“Who else had your password?”
She hesitated.
“Kevin.”
I looked at Ethan.
Kevin again.
The quiet son.
The one who had already transferred money.
We found Kevin that afternoon.
He didn't deny the transfers.
But he denied accessing the computer.
“Why did you send Martin money?”
He stared at the table.
“He said it was for legal expenses.”
“You believed him?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he's my father.”
I understood that.
Then I asked the question that changed his expression.
“Did he ask you to monitor me?”
Kevin's eyes lifted.
“No.”
“Think carefully.”
He swallowed.
“He asked me to tell him when you traveled.”
“Why?”
“He said he was worried about the company.”
“And Sophie?”
Kevin looked horrified.
“No.”
“Did anyone ask you about her?”
He hesitated.
“Ryan.”
“What did he ask?”
“Where she went to school.”
My hands tightened.
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
Kevin began crying.
“I swear, Daniel. I didn't know what they were planning.”
I believed him.
Not completely.
But enough.
“Then help me.”
He nodded.
“I will.”
He gave us access to a private messaging group.
The messages were worse than we expected.
Martin.
Ryan.
Kevin.
And one unidentified account.
The unknown account had been sending detailed information.
Financial forecasts.
Project bids.
My travel schedule.
But the messages were written in language that sounded familiar.
Ethan read them.
Then he looked at me.
“I know who this is.”
“Who?”
He pointed to one phrase.
The sender had referred to one of our oldest projects using an internal nickname.
Only five people knew that nickname.
Four were in the room earlier.
The fifth had left the company two years ago.
“Who?” I asked again.
Ethan's voice dropped.
“Thomas Reed.”
I stared at him.
Thomas had been my operations director for nine years.
He had left suddenly eighteen months earlier.
He had told me he wanted to spend more time with his wife.
I had accepted it.
I had even given him a generous severance package.
Now the timeline made sense.
He had left shortly before the remote access system appeared.
“Where is he now?”
Ethan checked the records.
“Working for a competitor.”
My stomach tightened.
“Which one?”
He told me.
It was the company that had won all three of the contracts we had lost.
The same company that had undercut our bids by almost exactly two percent.
I sat down.
“Find everything.”
Ethan nodded.
Then my phone rang.
It was Claire.
I answered.
“Hello?”
Her voice was barely audible.
“Daniel.”
“What happened?”
“My father knows.”
“Knows what?”
“That I gave you the documents.”
I stood.
“Where are you?”
“At home.”
“Leave.”
“What?”
“Leave the house.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
She began crying.
“He's here.”
My blood ran cold.
“Is he alone?”
“No.”
“Who is with him?”
Silence.
“Claire?”
She whispered:
“Thomas.”
I looked at Ethan.
Everything inside me went still.
The man we had been searching for wasn't simply working for the competitor.
He was standing inside Martin's house.
And whatever they had planned next was already happening.
Click here to continue reading: PART 9: Thomas Was Standing Beside Martin When Claire Called for Help, and the Next Ten Minutes Revealed How Deeply Their Plan Had Reached
My Daughter Called Me From the Cold, and Within Minutes I Knew the Family I Had Protected Was No Longer Worth Protecting
Part 8 of 20
